SuperTuxKart 0.10 Release Candidate 1 is available to download. It features new and improved tracks, kart tweaks, and improved online multiplayer support.

This post, SuperTuxKart 0.10 RC1 Arrives with Improved Online Multiplayer Support, was written by Joey Sneddon and first appeared on OMG! Ubuntu!.

iOS 12 supports QR codes. A QR code (quick response code) is a type of 2D bar code that is used to provide easy access to information through a smartphone. In this process, known as mobile tagging, the smartphone's owner points the phone at a QR code and opens a barcode reader app which works in conjunction with the phone's camera.

iOS 11 and 12 allows you to scan them without the need for a third-party app. Here’s how:

• Open the Camera app and make sure the rear facing camera is enabled.

• Point the camera viewfinder at the QR code. Make sure the code is entirely visible in the view finder.

• Hold the camera steady. The QR code will be scanned instantly and you’ll see a notification at the top of the iPhone or iPad screen describing what kind of QR code you’ve scanned (website QR Code, Calendar QR code, etc.).

You’ll see what action the QR code can perform (add event to your calendar, open page in Safari). You don’t have to to press the capture or shutter button. Just pointing the camera and holding it steady at the QR code is all you need to do.

(This how-to is based on my experiences and info on Apple's support pages — where the images sometimes come from.)

‪Happy Halloween from me and whoever this hero is who wore a costume to work… at the DMV.‬

Ok, so your home internet connection is down. Well, not right now, obviously. But your ISP has you on a waiting list for a service call, and you’re thinking you’ll just spend some time cleaning your office today. You’d love to know if your connection came back up in the meantime, though, right?

This trick is an evolution of one from OSXDaily. The idea is to just keep pinging a DNS server until we get a response, and then send an alert. For my working environment, I wanted something that would ensure I got the message.

Here’s the base function, imdown (I’m Down!):

# Wait for internet connection to come back up and notify
imdown() {
until ping -W1 -c1 1.1.1.1; do
sleep 10;
done
# notify somehow
}

I’m pinging the new 1.1.1.1 DNS Resolver. You could ping a website, but pinging the DNS resolver directly is faster. It won’t work if the connection problem is at the DNS level, but I’m only concerned with knowing when my modem is back online.

The ping command in this function uses 2 flags, -W1 and -c1. The -W is how long to wait for a response. We just want quick pings, so 1 second is enough. The -c1 is how many sweeps to do in a pass (with no -c it will just keep pinging forever), meaning we’ll just ping once and then sleep for 10 seconds before we try again. When it gets a successful ping, it moves on to the next step: notifying…

Insistent, nagging alerts

I made a really annoying loop for this. If the machine you’re running it on has sound, this is really effective. Assuming you’re around to shut it off, I suppose, because it would drive everyone else nuts and they’d end up smashing your speakers. But if you’re working around the house and want to know, turn up your volume and this will do the trick.

nag() {
while true; do
for phrase in "$@"; do
afplay /System/Library/Sounds/Ping.aiff
say -v Alex "$phrase"
sleep 5
done
done
}

It takes one or more arguments, each being a quoted phrase to speak. It will enter into an infinite loop of playing a ding (the system “Ping” sound) and then speaking each phrase supplied to it (one at a time, in succession, or just one over and over if there’s only one argument) until you end it with CTRL-C.

Side note: If you want a female voice, changing say -v Alex to say -v Samantha works well. I miss the old voices… there used to be a bunch of funky voice modulations like “Bells” and creepy robot voices. Oh well.

So now my imdown function looks like this:

# Wait for internet connection to come back up and notify
imdown() {
until ping -W1 -c1 8.8.8.8; do
sleep 10;
done
nag \
"internet connection is back up\!" \
"Skynet is thinking" \
"your tribulation is over, the internet is here" \
"Praise what gods may be, we have internet\!" \
"O M G we're online" \
"In the words of Dr. Frankenstein, it's alive\!" \
"rejoice, for the internet is risen"
}

It will cycle through these phrases, ad nauseam. It will get your attention, and those who share your space will hail you as a hero of great cleverness. That’s what those dirty looks mean, I swear.

Push It Real Good

If you have other means of getting notifications, such as a home automation system that can blink lights via script (I do :P), great. One option is to use Pushover, a free service that allows you to send push notifications to your iPhone (and Apple Watch) or Android device.

You can get various Pushover libraries for different languages, but it’s a really simple REST API, so you can just ping it from a script. Here’s how to set it up:

• Create an account at Pushover
• You’ll see your “User Key” prominently displayed after you log in. Copy that and save it
• On your dashboard under “Your Applications”, click “Create an Application/API Token.” Just create one called “CLI”
• Your application will get a token, copy that and save it, too

You’ll also need to install the Pushover app on your iOS or Android device for this to do much good.

Now, with your token and key in tow, you can ping the API. You could do it ugly with curl… the data needs to be passed as url encoded form data (percent encoded), like so (with your token and user key substituted in):

curl -X POST --form 'token=xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx&user=xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx&title=Internet%20Connection%20Restored&message=Your%20internet%20connection%20is%20back%20online.&priority=1&sound=spacealarm' 'https://api.pushover.net/1/messages.json'

That would mean you could just create a bash function to send notifications. You can use this function to encode the strings:

# If you don't already have this in your bash profile
urlenc () { #url encode the passed string
echo -n "$1" | perl -pe's/([^-_.~A-Za-z0-9])/sprintf("%%%02X", ord($1))/seg'
}

pushnotify() {
local token=xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
local key=xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
local formdata="token=${token}&user=${key}&title=$(urlenc $1)&message=$(urlenc $2)&priority=1&sound=spacealarm"
curl -X POST -d $formdata 'https://api.pushover.net/1/messages.json'
}

Add something like pushnotify "Internet Connection" "Stop what you're doing, your internet connection is back up." to the imdown script (or replace the infinite loop of annoying voices entirely, but really, why limit yourself?).

Now you’ll get a notification on your phone and/or watch when your internet comes back up.

Here’s a gist with all the fun all in one place.

And here’s one that Alex Chan converted for Fish (with randomized phrase selection).

That was a lot of work for a minor convenience, I know. I happened to have all but the imdown function already in place, so really, I just did all the work for you. You’re welcome.

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Are you looking for a new home? Maybe not. Maybe you aren’t even thinking about moving to Highland Park, Michigan. But if that’s the case then you’re a fool because we just found you the perfect house.

We welcome you to 450 W Grixdale, your new $550,000 home that needs exactly $0 of updates because it is delightful and insane and we will shame the person who changes anything about it.

Come, let’s take a tour:

Photo Credit: Estately

“Unique barely begins to describe this one of a kind Grixdale Farms estate,” is the promising start of the property’s ad on Estately.com. The home, which is referred to as “Lion Gate Estate,” despite the fact that while we do see a gate we only see three lions, “has been articulated with painstaking attention to detail and mind-blowing decorative flair.”

“Mind-blowing decorative flair?” Sounds like someone’s “eccentric” Aunt has become a house. Do go on.

Photo Credit: Estately

Photo Credit: Estately

As you can see, this 3 bedroom, 2.25 bath home packs a lot into its 1,886 square feet.

The living room, for example, is perfect for those of you who like to come home, take off your shoes, and touch nothing. “But wait,” you say, “it won’t be that bad once I put my own stamp on it.” Slow down, Bob Villa. Because this home is being sold with all of it’s contents. All of them.

So let’s see what else you’ll be getting.

How about this formal dining room, complete with these two fellas (the one on the left is named “Eh” and the one on the right is “WhaddyaGonnaDo”) and some three-dimensional fighting cherubs.

Photo Credit: Estately

Or we can go to the kitchen and pretend we’re at a garden party while we rifle through the photographer’s backpack for snacks.

Photo Credit: Estately

Need to use the restroom? How about this floral retreat! Simply remove the glass dragonfly from the toilet lid and put it on the…well, maybe there’s room on the…you know what, just hold it under your arm. And, of course, we ask that you contain your business to the carpet tarp.

Photo Credit: Estately

Do your eyes deceive you, or is there carpeting on that ceiling? Heck yeah, there is. Up is down and black is white here in the Upside Down. Enjoy vacuuming, buddy.

Photo Credit: Estately

Ah, now we come to the master bedroom. You’ll relax and rejuvenate on your velvet-covered refrigerator box while the thoughtfully arranged armless bust watches you sleep and the statues at the bottom of the bed protect you from those who wish you harm. Like that bear. Or that weird chicken.

Photo Credit: Estately

This second bedroom also has Silent Sleep Watchers and Darkness Guardians.

Photo Credit: Estately

If you looked at this picture, assumed at first that there was a chair hanging from the wall, and felt only mild surprise, then you’re starting to get the gist of this house. We’re not sure why you need this much mirror in such a small space, but if you’re someone who doesn’t trust yourself and needs yourself to always keep an eye on yourself, then this is the perfect house for you.

Photo Credit: Estately

Everyone loves an inviting entryway that provides you with front, back, and aerial views of yourself (you’re not getting away with a goddamn thing, Self.) Our eyes are also drawn to the open door that appears to be paneled with some kind of dark fabric which is totally not creepy and needs to be investigated immediately.

Photo Credit: Estately

Hey, anybody else watch The Sinner on AMC starring Jessica Biel where she keeps having flashbacks to these basement stairs that led to a weird sibling sex and drug orgy that ended up with a cracked sternum and a buried body?

Photo Credit: YouTube

Well, at least this staircase comes with ways to defend yourself. For example, you can poke out an eye with a blue crane. Or break a bunch of glass and pull a Die Hard. Or snatch some art off the wall and bash it over someone’s head. We’re just saying that there should be some kind of plan in place before you go down these stairs.

Photo Credit: Estately

But wait, what’s this?! You go downstairs and what you find is an Elvis cafe? Excuse me, your Elvis cafe. Why an Elvis cafe? Because really, at this point, why the hell not. Grab a table, pour yourself a beer, and look at the cardboard man for a spell. Enjoy yourself. There are no mirrors, here.

Photo Credit: Estately

Now we’ll exit the main house and check out the trash veranda. It’s perfect for sitting on a loveseat and staring at a sun-drenched brick wall. It’s also useful for herding and vaccinating cattle.

Photo Credit: Estately

Did we forget to mention that you get not one but two cars with this joint? What the hell is happening with this house?

Photo Credit: Estately

You will also immediately find yourself neck-deep into a new hobby. If you don’t already love making small wooden cars, you’re going to learn to in a jiffy.

Photo Credit: Estately

Onto the backyard, where — oh, look. Statues.

Photo Credit: Estately

And a pool, which you should definitely search for statues.

Photo Credit: Estately

We wouldn’t change a thing about this statue-filled shrine to Elvis and small wooden cars, and that’s a good thing because the ad makes clear that “[the] property sold AS IS, BATVAI.” BATVAI, by the way, means “buyer’s agent to verify all information.” So basically “AS IS, BATVAI” means “F*** IT AND F*** YOU, I’M OUT” in real estate lingo.

The ad for this prime piece of real estate ends with one final, mysterious caveat: “Only shown on sunny days.” Why? Because that’s when the vampires sleep? Because that’s when you can best appreciate all the mirrors? Because no one gets out when they visit in the dark? We don’t know, but we love it all.

Photo Credit: Estately

h/t: Messy Nessy

The post OMG You Guys, We Found You A New House appeared first on AwkwardFamilyPhotos.com.